How secure is your business network? What about your laptop, desktop, and Smartphone? IT security is one of the most important tasks you can apply to secure your business.
A weak network or hardware endpoint security can take down the company’s network and bring everything else to a standstill in the process. Needless to say, that can translate into lost work, missed deadlines, unhappy customers, lost revenue and a whole bunch of other unsavory things. The worst case scenario is especially dangerous. In particular cases, businesses never recover from network security breaches. A quick Google search reveals 1000s of such stories. That’s why we’re going to present you with some smart tips for improving your network security so you can reduce your risk, protect your business and keep on keeping on.
Enforce smart password policies
Notice it is smart, not strict. Strict isn’t always smart because people typically respond to strictness by taking shortcuts. For example, if you insist that your employees change your passwords every 30 days, they’re more likely to pick simple passwords or incremental ones, defeating the purpose and increasing your vulnerability to threats. Password policies must strike a balance between the ideal and the practical.
Install a hardware-based network firewall
Having a network firewall sounds like a no-brainer. A lot of companies don’t have a dedicated firewall at the network level, relying instead on the built-in software firewall on their machines. While it is better than nothing, it’s not even close to good enough.
Use Content Filtering to protect from Malware
No one wants to be a big brother, and we’d all prefer to trust our people to do the right thing. But the truth is that content filtering is a very effective way to limit your exposure to malware, not to mention lawsuits.
Develop Smart Telecommuting Policies
Again notice the word smart, instead of strict again. If you allow telecommuting, ensure smart policies are enforced such as requiring that the connecting computer have active and up to date antivirus software, enforcing encryption, and limiting access to specific resources on the network via remote connection. These items can be applied by utilizing Network Policy and Access services in most servers.